Touring - What the 7%@! are you carrying?

Hello, all! I'm new to bike touring and perhaps a little naive in the ways some folks are doing it. I've approached bike touring from the perspective of a backpacker/mountaineer where traveling light and fast is not only a desire, but a prerequisite.

It seems like weight is also an issue of concern with most bikers, but I've seen a LOT of them with mounds and mounds of stuff (aka, "heavy ****" to author Bill Bryson) hanging off their bikes! Every time I have to ask myself, "what are these people carrying?"

I've also been reading threads on this site that indicate to me that most riders aren't packing food and kitchen equipment on their tours, but prefer to raid grocery stores each day or eat in restaurants. There appears to be a lot of opportunities for most riders to shave pounds and cubic inches from their gear loads before sacrificing food for questionable and expensive restaurant fare.

To me, bike touring is a natural progression from backpacking; it allows me to be self-contained yet I get to see parts of the countryside that would otherwise be missed from behind the windshield of a speeding automobile. And I don't sacrifice anything in comfort--I've always got a comfortable chair in which to sit, a dry roof over my head, and some single malt scotch to sip in camp. I've actually been quite pleased in the manner my backpacking gear has so well adapted to bike touring (my wife/CFO is even more pleased).

These casual observations lead me to ask, "how light are you traveling?" If you've got three or four thousand cubic inches of pannier space available, why do you still need to stack tents, sleeping pads, and other miscellaneous gear on top of it all (this is the suggested method in one of the books I bought on bike touring)? Are bikers using different gear and just not yet discovered the equipment available to backpackers?

:beer:

I have done plenty of backpacking in addition to touring myself and while I don't carry unnecessary weight I am not an ultralighter either as I like the challenge and muscular developement benefits of a decent load and am willing to give up speed ,lack of strain on joints or any other reason you can come up with.I don't carry cookware because I actually prefer fresh uncooked foods over heated food which destroy vit&min. content ,and changes chemical structures destroying protein factions,absortion,and even creates carcinagins.

Hi,
I guess the amout you carry first of all depends on the region you are traveling to (i.e. ARE there grocery stores, and what is the distance between them). Then, of course it depends on whether you want to camp vs. overnights in hostels, wheter you cook or not, etc.

We usually do fully self contained tours to remote regions requiring that we take a stove, tent, pots, etc. Traveling to remote regions also requires that you carry food for more than one day, and that may take up space quickly.

In terms of clothing, as well as other outdoor gear, I use the same stuff for riding as I am using for backpacking. (when I speak of backpacking, I refer to several days tours inclunding tent, stove, food, etc. which usually means that you are also carrying quite a bit).

My last trip was a combination of cycling and climbing requiring us to carry crampons and a real backpack on the cycling part as well, but that's more unusual.

When cycling, you can certainly take along more weight before you feel it being really disadvantageous compared to having to carry things on your back (when you feel each gram of weight), and only when you ride mountain passes, or when you tour on single tracks, the weight issue becomes more serious.
i.e. crossing the Alps on a mountain bike I would be very considerate what to take and what not as you may have to carry your bike at times (at the same time there you can stay in huts/hotels). On the other hand I have done several tours through desert regions requiring camping out, bringing food for a few weeks, and some days carrying 30 L of water ...

I guess you will find many opinions on this issue, as it depends on personal style of traveling as well as on the destination of your tour.

German tourists are notorious for their large heavy loads, whilst traditional UK riders take a more ultra-light approach, some of them travelling with just a large saddlebag. The most extreme example would have to be the Crane brothers' dash from New Delih to Mongolia carrying the equivelent of my weekend hostelling load.
That cultural difference is reflected in the style of bike, a lightweight English touring bike is far racier than a German one.
These days its quite easy to convert cash into ultra-light gear. For those on a budget you have to be more imaginative. There are some good websites on ultra-light camping.
This one
http://www.monmouth.com/~mconnick/
is pretty good on the philosophy and practice of getting into a virtuous circle of less gear->lighter stuff-> faster travel->less need for stuff.

There are all sorts of tourists, and I, for one, don't travel light. There are a few very good reasons.

1. Space and weight are not as important on a bike as they are on someone's back. A heavier bike is harder to start and climb hills more slowly, but is almost as fast on flat terrain.
It means I haven't spent huge amounts of money on ultralight or ultracompact stuff.

2. Cyclists need tools, especially in remote areas. BTW, "remote" means far from bike shops.

3. We generally cover more ground by bike than on foot. It means more different weather patters (think of a cross-continet trip), a nice dinner at a restaurant, visiting museums, etc.

4. It's more tempting to bring more clothes so one doesn't need to wash daily.


I should also tell you that there are people who travel rather lightly, especially in "civilised" areas. They just look like commuters.

Regards,

I think it depends on your needs and experience,

With my last tour, i carried crampons, iceaxe and climbing gear, because i wanted to do some mountaineering.
Great idea, and i enjoyed it very much, but on my next tour i probably go lighter.
Lightweight is better for the bike as well, less wear on chains and rings, less problems with the rear wheel.

I think with cycling you can make a good choice between comfort and lightweight, such as some Single Highland Malt before bedtime :D

Important weight-saving tip - Transfer the whisky from the heavy glass bottle to a nice light plastic bottle.

But a more important question is this: What single malt(s) do you like, either specific brand or region?

On my tour of Nevada last September, a really nice female cyclist, noted for her hugemongous travels- like from St. Petersburg, Russia to Peking !!!- had this thing for canned pears !! She was like paranoid- her canned pears would not be available.. I know we were out in the desert in the middle of nowhere...
You should have felt the weight of her panniers due to the weight of pears in water.. Guess good training ! I think I would look into dehyrdrated pears, myself...

Important weight-saving tip - Transfer the whisky from the heavy glass bottle to a nice light plastic bottle.

Nice one, last year i transferred a bottle of Scotch from Frt. William to Newcastle, to find out they sold the same in the Hexam Supermarket, 450 km of wasted energy, LOL :D

I`m not a really experienced on whiskey, but i prefer Glennmorangie, Glenfinidich or a more smoother one, Speyburn.

Only the Glennmorangie is Highland Malt, the others are Speysides, i`m not to keen on the Isles because of the salt taste.

cheers :beer:

Originally posted by RWTD
I don't carry cookware because I actually prefer fresh uncooked foods over heated food which destroy vit&min. content ,and changes chemical structures destroying protein factions,absortion,and even creates carcinagins. I'm with you bro..I just snags roadkill,and other carrion as I finds it and scarfs it down raw.But, tell me, does a possum having spent the day on hot East Texas asphalt still qualify as 'unheated'?

Having never been to east Texas and quite frankly having no desire to if this representative of their level of intellegence or tolerance I am not sure what a possum is.I am sure it is Texas slang for some animal but please don't enlighten me.

Originally posted by toolfreak

I`m not a really experienced on whiskey, but i prefer Glennmorangie, Glenfinidich or a more smoother one, Speyburn.

Only the Glennmorangie is Highland Malt, the others are Speysides, i`m not to keen on the Isles because of the salt taste.

cheers :beer:

Ahh, a nice sip of good malt after a day's ride... Glenmorangie is good, Glenfiddich is a bit light to my taste. Perhaps I've destroyed my taste buds with Laphroaigh, which is my favourite. If you don't like Islay whiskies, there are Irish single malts, too (e.g. Bushmill's). Due to different manufacturing process Irish single malts don't have the heavy smokey taste so common in Islay whiskies.

Nevertheless I prefer my whiskey poured from a glass bottle, or from a hip flask (which will only last for a short tour) instead of a plastic container. I'm willing to carry the extra weight.

--J